Holding The Lines
by Negimafan999
Summary: Whilst Shepard leads the final assault on the Citadel on Earth, just what did his squadmates and the people he recruited do during the final attack on Earth?


**Hey everyone! I would like to thank you for taking an interest in my story. This is my first Mass Effect story and I hope to do many more in the future. I know what you're thinking, that this is a long chapter. I am proud to say that it's over 11,000 words and it took me some time to complete it. If I receive some good feedback, I plan to make a separate chapter for all of Shepard's side characters and squad mates such as Garrus, Wrex, Zaeed, Kasumi, Tali, Liara and others.**

**Just to make things more clear. Each chapter will be about a side character or squad mate that has been recruited by Shepard to fight in the war on Earth. Since we never did get any cutscenes or clues of what they did in the final battle for Earth in the game, I took it upon myself to write their outcomes myself starting with one of my favourite characters, Grunt. Read on to discover what Grunt did during the final battle for Earth whilst Shepard lead the assault on the Citadel! :)**

**Any reviews will be greatly appreciated and I thank you for reading!**

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><p><span>Mass Effect 3: Holding The Lines - Grunt<span>

"I hate waiting" snarled Grunt. The pure tank bred Krogan impatiently and anxiously sat upon the rubble of what was left of a skyscraper in the middle of a human outpost, which Grunt himself had yet to realise. The fact that he didn't even know what a skyscraper was to begin with didn't cross his mind, mostly because his excitement shrouded his mind with thrilling thoughts as the bright blue eyed Krogan's sight was glued to a Reaper that was destructively annihilating the remains of what appeared to be an elementary school from afar.

Grunt had never been to Earth before, and he never imagined his first trip would be so stimulating. His Krogan blood boiled just from the sight of the mayhem before him. He was happy in a way, not because of Earth's demise, but because it was his reflexes as a Krogan to be excited over any creatures, living or not, that offered some form of challenge and threat towards him. He didn't realise it himself, but he was smiling with exhilaration, looking ready to rip apart the first thing that he comes into contact with.

It had only been minutes since the final talk he had with Shepard over the communications hub. It wasn't a long conversation. Shepard checked in on Grunt, he thanked him, it was short and sweet, just how Grunt liked it. He never did like long discussions, but rather getting straight to the point so that the action would come quicker. It didn't seem that way however, Grunt was still waiting, restlessly fidgeting with the M-300 Claymore shotgun that was tightly gripped in his rough, scaly hands, as if he was a child with a toy. The M-300 Claymore was no toy, it was known for being powerful enough to break a humans arm upon pressing the trigger, but Grunt didn't see the fuss, in fact, he was rather disappointed that it wasn't powerful _enough_ for himself, but he would have to make due with what he had, after all, the time to attack could come at any moment and he knew that. He didn't want to be measuring weapons and having to go through human regulations whilst the action was happening.

Upon his abrupt statement earlier about how he hated the waiting, many of the other races around him glared at him, all with different expressions. Anger, shock, annoyance, he could see that none of the faces agreed with him. Then again, most of the faces were those of the Human or Turian race. A rare sight of another Krogan, or even an Asari or Salarian would cross his sight, but the majority were humans that inhabited the area, which surprised Grunt until he remembered that Earth was the human home world. Most of them seemed to steer clear of Grunt, not because he was a Krogan, but because of his obviously suicidal attitude to wanting the action. However, the statement he made seemed to set some of them off, as he could easily detect heavy footsteps of anger approach him.

Grunt found it hard to tear his sight away from the bright red beams fiercely exploding out of the same Reaper he'd been watching the entire time, but the glimpse of a human was caught in the corner of his eye which made his instincts react, causing him to immediately turn with impressive speeds. Grunt sneered, expecting some sort of verbal abuse to be thrown his way. He witnessed a tall human pause and falter before straightening up, obviously trembling from Grunts sneer and gory stare. The human's armour looked worn down and was extremely muddy, and his face was covered in quite a few scratches. Grunt could easily tell that he had experienced some form of combat from past run-ins with the Reapers. To even still be alive made Grunt more respectful towards him, it's not everyday you survive a close quarter attack with the Reapers…or so he'd heard.

The battered soldier leered down at Grunt, who simply glared back up at him, awaiting the response he was about to receive. The soldier gulped, and then sighed, as if he was regretting his actions now…Krogan's aren't the best creatures to pick a fight with, especially during a Reaper invasion "Please tell me you're joking" questioned the soldier, sounding disgusted.

Grunt simply chuckled "I only joke with my own kind, or with those that have proved that they can stay durable in a fight. You…are not durable, not like Shepard" croaked Grunts voice, insulting the soldier with his honesty.

The soldier looked as if he had just been punched, scrounging up his face with disbelief "What are you trying to say!" hissed the soldier.

Grunt can easily be agitated by the simplest things, and this was no exception. The already impatient Krogan's long but thin pupils noticeably constricted as Grunt made it obvious that the human was annoying him by constantly asking him questions. The faint sounds of Grunts growling purred out of the corner of his mouth as the heavily armoured Krogan pushed himself off the rubble he sat upon, firmly producing a loud clanking sound once his feet collided with the dieing soil beneath him, permanently denting the surface of it with heavy footprints. His armour and M-300 Claymore shotgun, combined with the average weight of a Krogan made Grunt a cannonball just ready to be shot from it's cannon, or rather, in Grunt's case, his command.

Once his feet violently thumped against the ground, creating loud echo's across the valley, fragments of dirt was lifted of the ground for mere seconds before landing on top of Grunts already grimy armour. The dirtier the armour, the more evidence of how much experience in combat you have, that's how many of the Krogan saw it, including Grunt himself.

The pure bred Krogan concentrated his threatening glare on nothing but the human before him. If Grunt hadn't had his weapon holstered above his shoulder and steadily leaning against his solid shoulder pad, he would of swore that Grunt was ready to kill him…or at least smack him around a bit to shut him up. Neither sounding appealing.

Grunt didn't hesitate to quickly lean inwards, instantly startling the human soldier as he could feel the quiet but fierce inhales of the Krogan soldier. Grunt mildly sniffled, and it didn't take long before the hostile Krogan's constricted pupils dilated as he calmed down once the stench of fear radiated of the human soldier. It wasn't just him though…they all wreaked of it. Grunt retreated his head back and straightened up, lowering his M-300 Claymore to a more comforting position as he looked down at the human soldier, who had one eyebrow risen with both concern and confusion "You wreak of fear" simply admitted Grunt in a calm tone, letting the soldier know that he wasn't in such a bad mood anymore, but rather in a more insulting "You all do" added Grunt as he turned towards the others, giving each of them little attention before turning his sight back towards the human soldier before him "Back when Shepard released me from my tank, the way he handled the situation made my scales burn with satisfaction. Never thought my first interaction with another life form would be a human as tough as him…never thought the first life form to interact with me would still be alive either. Hehehe" explained Grunt, adding a humorous chuckle at the end "After that experience, I was looking forward to meeting more humans…but I can see now that Shepard is one of a kind, because you aren't durable in a fight. You're a Pyjak that thinks he can withstand the same amount of what Shepard or a Krogan can withstand" harshly admitted Grunt.

The human soldier looked flabbergasted by Grunts response. He expected some form of verbal abuse thrown his way like any other Krogan would do, but instead, he received a reasonable response from Grunt which made him more interested than angered by his response "That may be…maybe I am just a 'Pyjak' that's looking for more than he bargained for, but this is my planet…I may be no Shepard, but I am Tusker, an alliance soldier who stood his ground when the Reapers hit his home planet. You're right, I'm no Shepard, but I don't need to do the things he's done to make others proud…if I save even one life, then I've done my duty as a soldier" replied the human soldier now known as Tusker to Grunt.

Grunt managed to pull a grin, both of humour and respect "Tusker? That sounds almost as dumb as Shepard, hehehe" chuckled Grunt as he began walking past Tusker, skimming their shoulder pads past one another whilst Grunt set a new course to walk to. Grunt wouldn't portray the recent event as the start of a new friendship, but rather it decreasing the chances of 'friendly fire' happening on the battlefield in the near future to Tusker.

Tusker quickly looked back, unsure if Grunt was joking or not "You can't be more polite?" questioned Tusker.

Grunt shuddered off the question as he continued walking and smiling, eventually giving his response once almost out of hearing distance from Tusker "Shepard told me I had fight for you, not be…polite" snickered Grunt without turning back. He rarely heard the word polite and had some form of knowledge of what it's definition…but it burned his throat when he said it. Grunt and politeness just didn't go together.

Grunt continued walking, steadily pacing himself whilst his heavy footsteps could be heard from a mile away. The pure bred Krogan kept moving forward towards his destination, but it didn't take long before his attention was torn away from which direction he was walking as the blistering sound of a Reaper horn buzzed in his ears and alerted him, forcing grunt to twist his head to the left, where he witnessed another monstrous Reaper gently drop down from the sky where it's insert-like legs calmly and carefully landed on the dead, lifeless surface of the once beautiful greenery _"I want to fight one of those…" _he yearningly thought to himself. At times like this, Grunt could only think of positive comments…not just for himself, but for the others around him. Calling a human a Pyjak is one thing, but making humour out of the destruction of there planet is something else. He never thought that he would see the day that another inhabited planet would look as bad as Tuchanka, even thinking about it left a sour taste in his mouth.

The Reaper horn hit again, but this time it was almost immediately followed by a fiery burst of redness that erupted out of the Reaper itself like a volcano, producing a large thwarting sound that scraped itself along the dry surface of the Earth and killing too many for Grunt to even count. It wasn't even close to hitting the location he was in, and yet he could still feel the vibrations of the shock wave from the blast pass through his solid bones. The first thought that came to his mind after that was _"So this is what it's like to be Joker" _which Grunt managed to snicker at under his breath. The image stained itself in his mind, the last time he was this concerned about something was back on Tuchanka itself when he had to face a Thresher Maw during his Rite Of Passage…then again, that memory eventually became a happy one for Grunt that he could look back on…but this time, for the first time in his Krogan lifespan, Grunt wasn't one hundred percent sure on this next one.

Turning back to the direction he was calmly walking, Grunt surprised himself when he realised that he was just a few feet away from the communications hub, which was his original destination to begin with, but that fact that he got there quicker than he had anticipated meant that he must have admired watching the Reapers enough to make him completely forget about time itself.

Grunt halted himself in front of the actual hub itself instead of the human sitting behind the counter. He looked down at the hub, then over to the long haired human who could quickly feel Grunts stare burn into him, creating a discomforting atmosphere between them and forcing the human to quickly move from his comfort zone to look up at Grunt before spouting the words "Do you want to connect with anyone soldier?" to Grunt.

Grunt wasn't used to being called a soldier. A Krogan perhaps, sometimes even a project, but never a soldier. He liked it in a way, but at the same time he didn't appreciate it. He slightly turned his body diagonally towards the human before speaking with his croaky tone "Connect me to that Javik thing" requested Grunt. He would have refereed to Javik as a Prothean, but Shepard had yet to explain to Grunt that Javik was an actual Prothean, which was partly the reason to why he wanted to talk to Javik now in case there wasn't another opportunity after the attack was over, to learn what he actually was. Grunt hadn't been around as long as Shepard or anyone else that surrounded him, but he knew that Javik wasn't an Asari or a Salarian, he wasn't stupid, he knew Javik was in the category of a rare species otherwise he would have seen more like him "He better show some entertainment" mumbled Grunt to himself, obviously implying that he hoped that talking to Javik would pass the time until the attack commenced.

Nodding, the human behind the counter didn't hesitate to fulfil Grunts request, he didn't want to anger a Krogan. Of course, it took a little longer than Grunt had hoped for because of the communication issues thanks the havoc the Reapers were creating…that, and the fact that they had to get Javik to the communications hub. Shepard was lucky enough to get through to Grunt when he did it without any issues on the other end.

Eventually, a blue, transparent blob appeared above the hub, hovering in midair as static took over any volume that was coming from the other end. Faint sounds of a familiar voice would cut in at times, only to be engulfed by more static. Grunt snarled "Piece of trash" scowled Grunt with annoyance. However, seconds later, the hovering circular blob that produced thwarting sounds suddenly began to morph into a shape of a figure. Grunt waited and watched until finally, the face of Javik was recognisable through the struggling hologram.

As Javik discovered who had disturbed his time, his facial expressions changed from intrigued to dissatisfied as the last living Prothean leaned back with his arms crossed, looking unimpressed and disappointed "Oh…" his rough voice disappointingly muttered "It's just you, the manufactured Krogan" hummed Javik's voice with a calming yet annoyed tone.

Grunt smiled at the reaction, one sentence and he's already starting to like him. He was impressed that Javik had even remembered him in the first place "Don't flatter yourself, you're nothing special either, you look like a Salarian wearing a Krogan's scales" insulted Grunt.

Javik uncrossed his arms, untamed and obviously not amused "And you look like premature tortoise back from my cycle" responded Javik, smiling at his own humour.

"Hahaha" chuckled Grunt "I like you" he simply responded, followed by a nod.

"Noted. Now, what do you want?" asked Javik, getting straight to the point. It seemed to Grunt that he didn't want to spend all off his remaining time speaking with him.

"Shepard never did tell me what you were. Care to elaborate?" demanded Grunt.

Javik remained silent at first. The silence was awkward, and Grunt didn't like the waiting. He was impatient. Javik had vague expressions, Grunt couldn't tell if Javik was just messing with him, if he was thinking up an answer or if Javik himself didn't actually know what he was. However, all those claims disintegrated once Javik opened his mouth again to speak, and the answer surprised Grunt "I'm a Prothean" answered Javik. Most of his response was static from Grunts end, but he clearly heard the word "Prothean" shriek it's way through the frustrating static that started to irritate Grunt. What was he suppose to do though, head butt the hologram and hope he hit the static? Technology isn't that advanced yet.

Grunt inhaled deeply, slowly absorbing the new knowledge he had just attained "A Prothaen huh?" replied Grunt, sounding rather doubtful, even if he didn't mean to "I always wanted to fight one of those from what I've heard about them" he grinned.

"You wouldn't last very long" immediately snapped Javik, taking Grunts challenge to heart.

"That so? How about when this is over, we'll meet up so I can prove you wrong" persisted Grunt, still grinning whilst sounding completely serious.

"I would gladly accept this challenge, but I know that you wont be alive by the time this ends. I know your kind. You get thrills from battle and sometimes go to far. I don't expect a Krogan like you to live" harshly admitted Javik.

Grunts smile sunk down into an angered frown. He took a steep forward and leaned inwards while breathing heavily until ending up just a few inches away from Javik's holographic face "I'm not like other Krogan" growled Grunt.

Javik could sense Grunts seriousness from miles away. He could tell that Grunt wasn't lying "If that's that case, then I'll see you after the war" accepted Javik "Try not to get killed" quickly added Javik who's holographic figure suddenly dispersed as he disconnected communications from Grunt.

"Hmph" groaned grunt with annoyance "I'm the one who should be saying that to you, Pyjak" he sighed as he stepped away from the hub "How much longer am I going to have to wa-"

Suddenly, without warning, Grunt was interrupted by the loud purring of a nearby M35 Mako's engine that aggressively revved, shortly followed by many others. The sound was music to Grunts ears as the Krogan quickly turned with excitement towards the sound. What he witness left him ecstatic. Hundreds of human soldiers with M-8 Avengers firmly grasped in their hands savagely charged towards the Reapers as they proudly yelled with confidence. Grunt slowly walked forward, stimulated with excitement even if being confused with what was going on. The sight was beautiful, and yet he was confused to what was happening.

"Hey!" suddenly shouted a familiar voice "Krogan!" exclaimed the same voice who had yet to learn Grunts name. Grunt slightly turned towards the direction of the voice, where he saw Tusker yelling at the top of his lungs at Grunt "Shepard's on the move! Anderson has ordered a full attack for all units! This is it! We're moving out!" screeched Tusker from afar before disappearing from Grunts sight once blending into the crowd of soldiers charging together.

Two Kodiak drop shuttles roared above Grunt as they blasted through the sky, heading in the same direction as the other soldiers and leaving a thick fog of smoke that heavily smelt of fuel, but to Grunt, it was the smell of war, just the way he liked it. He watched them fade away through the shrouds of ashes and smoke that was produced from the fires that burned from afar.

"Hahaha! Finally!" yelled Grunt with enthusiasm. The eager Krogan charged along with the other humans, with traces of Turians along with them. He was at the back of the charging soldiers, but within seconds, with all the motivation he now had, Grunt easily caught up to the front line along with the M35 Mako's and Tusker himself. Both looked at one another with a provoked look on their faces before nodding at each other with respect and acceptance…the Reapers were going feel the force of this attack.

Not one inch of the ground could be seen as hundreds of burning feet thunderously assaulted the barren wasteland like a stampede of elephants as they all simultaneously clanked their feet against the crackling surface, producing heavy thumps that echoed across the valley and easily alerting the closest Reaper forces.

They were all approaching the remaining ruins of what was left of a small town that was engulfed by the blackest smoke they had ever seen that had been inhabited with Reaper life. Bullets could be seen ripping through the smoke from the other side as the Reaper forces behind that black smoke fired blindly into the army that approached them, picking off a soldier one by one with a lucky hit. Grunt could hear the bullets whizzing past his head, followed by the gut wrenching cries of any nearby soldiers who endured the pain as the bullets easily penetrated their armour and tore through their flesh, causing them to violently drop to the ground in hope that they would live long enough for nearby medics to treat them.

They were almost at the wall of smoke now, each of them thinking that it was the first step to complete in this attack. Get past the smoke as a barrage of bullets fly at you. It was harder than it sounded. Then, without warning, the first of them appeared. Eerily emerging from the black smoke as if they were camouflaged into it materialized wave after wave of glowing Husks that disturbingly shrieked at the approaching soldiers as the sloppily hunched back creatures stumbled forwards, towards the charging army. It was impossible to tell how many of them there were because the wall of smoke kept them well hidden…but as they continued to pour out, every soldier, including Grunt, would eventually just end up thinking that they were a never ending army that spawned out of thin air. If one died, two would take it's place.

"Incoming Husks!" screeched the voice of a nearby Commander "Take position and open fire! Kill them all!" he strictly ordered with seriousness.

"Bring it on you meatless tin bags!" yelled out Grunt with pleasure.

There wasn't that much distance between the two charging forces, so they had to make every second count. Every solider screeched to a halt, excluding Grunt, who decided to get a little closer to the action before eventually digging his feet into the dirt to force himself to stop. Having a shotgun has it's advantages, it means you have an excuse to get up close and personal, that's how Grunt saw it. The Husks trembled closer, their snarls growing louder with each second that passed. It wasn't long before they were silenced though as a hailstorm of bullets erupted from the first few waves of the human and Turian soldiers weapons, whizzing through the air and ripping straight through the soft, disintegrating flesh of the incoming Husks. Just as the humans did earlier, the Husks fell one by one as the bullets sorely penetrated them…the only difference was, unlike the humans, most of them would get back up for round two before finally being put down again by a number of bullets. There was only so much ammunition. There was only so much confidence and motivation. There was only so much soldiers. There was no retreat, nor was there a second chance. This was it. All or nothing…for all of them.

Grunt was literally feet away from the Husks now, viciously blowing holes through them one at a time with his M-300 Claymore and managing to fend for himself. The odd one or two would get by him in hope that they would reach the army of soldiers behind Grunt, but they wouldn't get very far once Grunt turned his gun towards them and quickly pulled the trigger. As Grunt continued to fire away, the despairing clicking sound from his M-300 Claymore alerted him that he needed reloading, which was rather hard since he was literally inches away from the charging Husks.

Grunt growled with annoyance as her looked down at his M-300 Claymore as he prepared to initiate the reloading, but just as he was about to reach for thermal clip, the cold and rough textured palms of a monstrous Husk fiercely wrapped themselves around Grunts wrist and shoulder, digging it's skeletal fingers into his armour and scraping it's rotting fingernails along it. Before Grunt could react, another Husk instantly after screeched loudly behind Grunt as it leaped onto his back, slapping one arm around his neck as the other clawed at his face. Grunt angrily yelled with a hint of enjoyment as the words "Is that all you got!" blurted out of his mouth, barely recognisable thanks to the continuous clawing the Husk violently repeated. Grunt thrusted his right arm back, causing the Husk that was tightly attached to it to brutally slip away and slam onto the uneven ground with force, producing a wet cracking sound whilst doing so. He then focused his attention on the other Husk that was leaving it's mark of Grunts face as it dug it's fingernails deep into his flesh, leaving sore marks to bleed as blood trickled down his face. Grunt could taste the blood, and it exhilarated him. The thrilled Krogan let his M-300 Claymore dangle in one hand as he jerked his other hand over his shoulder, slamming his palm over the Husk's face and sorely crushing his fingers through it's soft skull where the tips of his fingers could feel the rotting brain of the Husk. Grunt viciously pulled his hand forward, launching the Husk over his shoulder until it slammed into the ground in front of Grunt. The pure bed Krogan looked down at the Husk with pity "Pathetic" he insulted as he lifted his heavy foot, leaving it hovering over the Husk for a few seconds before dropping it like heavy weights onto the Husks fragile head and causing it to explode on impact.

It didn't take long for Grunt to notice the first Husk he had thrown to the grown was slowly gathering itself as it stumbled to it's feet. He snickered and smirked as he watched the Husk struggle to regain balance as it stumbled around, looking ridiculous. Grunt didn't hesitate to take action as he took a firm grasp of his M-300 Claymore using both hands before swinging it upwards like a baseball bat, upper cutting the Husk with the barrel of the gun and watching blood gorily flew out of it's mouth before it lifelessly slumped to the ground with a loud thud.

Grunt had no time for a breather. Linguistically , he turned himself back towards the direction of the charging Husks who gave him no chance to recuperate, not that Grunt needed it. As blood trickled down his face, the overly excited Krogan's reflexes enhanced themselves further as the thrill took him over. His pupils fully constricted, Grunt let out a monstrous roar as he swung both his arms outwards before charging himself at the closest Husk, like a bull chasing a red cloth. Showing no fear, the closest Husk continued to charge as it witnessed Grunt ferociously speeding towards it until they both collided, where Grunt shoulder barged the bug eyed Husk hard enough to literally tear the upper torso off the body of the skeletal creature, sending it flying across the battlefield until hitting another Husk that fell back and slammed it's head hard against the concrete ground, inactivating the brain and killing it instantly. Watching the mayhem he just caused made Grunt smile pleasurably as he reloaded his M-300 Claymore. Just as he finished the reloading, another Husk sneakily appeared in front of Grunt, screeching loudly enough to become a hindrance to his hearing. Grunt jerked his head forward, harshly smashing his head against the Husks fragile, vulnerable skull whilst the words "Shut it" croaked out of his mouth as the sound of bone cracking was heard upon impact…and it wasn't Grunts.

However, no matter how famous he was because of his skills and survival skills, Grunt was still only one Krogan. As hard as he truly tried, he couldn't get all of them. Excluding a small amount of Husks who had their hands tied with Grunt himself, waves of them from afar slipped past him, growing in speed as they could literally taste the Alliance soldiers and Turians just a few feet away from them. Closer and closer they got, taking the short amount of times the soldiers had to reload and using it to their advantage. As Grunt blasted a hole through the stomach of another victimised Husk, he quickly saw that no more Husks were making their way through the wall of black, thick smoke, which in a way disappointed him. He wanted more to face, to kill. The pure bed tank Krogan anxiously turned and looked over his shoulder, where he witnessed in the corner of his blue eyes the destruction that was about to begin.

The remaining army of Husks violently collided with the army of humans and Turians where they all brutally clashed. The best support the humans had were the M35 Mako's that cautiously drove along the rocky surface before positioning themselves at the front line as they sprayed there turrets at the incoming Husks and any other enemies, but their range was limited and the Husks slowly began to learn this. As long as they were close to the Mako's or if the humans were in the way, the Mako's would be reduced to nothing but extra weight on the battlefield, being unable to fire at the remaining Husks and becoming rendered useless.

The first waves of troops suffered the brute of the attack from the Husks as the were in the middle of reloading. Hand to hand combat was the Husks specialty. As Grunt took care of the last few Husks at the back, he could see the first wave of human soldiers get overwhelmed and engulfed like a tidal wave by the Husks as they viciously ripped into them with their sharp hands. Tusker was amongst the few that managed to fend for themselves in the front line as Grunt could see him shove away one of the Husks as it fell to the ground before having Tusker stomp on it's chest and having it's brains blown out by a single bullet from his M-8 Avenger.

Finishing off the last Husk that was around him, Grunt grinded his foot into the soil as he pushed himself off the ground, where he desperately began running back to the others , partly because he could see the others were struggling, but mostly because he just wanted more action. Grunt didn't realise how far ahead he had actually went…he was regretting it now. The Husks were slowly depleting one by one, almost becoming extinct on the battlefield they were on, but they were leaving their mark. A group of them surrounded an M35 Mako, stalking it as if it were their prey. One by one that leeched themselves to it, slowly slithering on top and around it as they began crazily battering the armour plating and leaving mischievous dents in it. However, one Husk in particular unknowingly went the extra mile by discovering the gas tank firmly attached to the Mako. The Husk wildly began pounding it whilst making horrendous screeches until eventually the tank bursted open, leaking fuel all over the Mako itself, along the ground and also on the Husk who splashed itself with the fuel. Unaware to this, nearby soldiers finally began aiding the Mako by open firing on the Husks that scattered themselves around it like bugs until the inevitable happened. A bullet erupted from the barrel of a Turians weapon, where it collided with the Husk covered with fuel, creating a blistering spark that flared brightly. The Husk burst into flames, creating a chain reaction as the flames reached the trail of fuel that was on ground until reaching the Mako itself. Destruction can be created within a second, giving no one anytime to react.

The battered Mako aggressively detonated, ferociously engulfing nearby Husks and soldiers with flames as it brutally exploded upon impact. A mushroom cloud quickly formed above the explosion, producing poisonous black smoke to inhabit the sky. From a birds eye view, there was literally a large, circular hole in the middle of the army from where the explosion had wiped out so many soldiers, it left a large dent in not only their resources, but also their confidence. Grunt, who was almost back to the front line where the remaining Husks were, screeched himself to a halt and paused for a moment, hesitant after watching the Mako explode. Then, he simply shrugged as the words "That's gotta hurt" muttered out of his mouth before he continued trotting forward, looking unaffected in the least.

Meanwhile, Tusker was beginning to tire after all the close encounters with the Husks. There was very few left and it felt like he had taken the entire Husk force on. Tusker sloppily punched a Husk with his left hand, sending the skeletal creature stumbling sideways and giving Tusker a small amount of time to properly inhale before continuing the assault by using the butt of his M-8 Avenger to melee the same Husk that trembled back to it's feet, sorely connecting it with it's jaw and letting the Husk fiercely slam to the ground lifelessly.

However, immediately after, another Husk surprisingly and sneakily leaped at Tusker, leeching it's sticky palms across both his shoulders and sending them both to the ground as they grappled for dominance. The Husk had the advantage, having it's heavy body on top of Tuskers tired, battered body. Unlike Tusker, the Husk was unwounded, unfazed by the recent events and unhindered by any thoughts of it's planet being invaded…it was the exact opposite of a human being, never showing wear and tear, never seeming to tire, never showing weakness or fear.

Tusker exceedingly slapped his palm along the Husks face and shoulder, using his limited movements as best he could as he rowdily shuffled his arms around, pushing them hard against the decomposing flesh of the Husk as he could feel himself become weaker and more tiresome. At first the Husks head was jerked upwards by the forcing push of Tusker, but as seconds past it slowly began assertively pushing it's chin downwards, bending back Tuskers hands until eventually he was forced to lower his posture as his arms slowly collapsed once being drained of all it's energy and composure. Tusker's face painfully cringed as the Husks skeletal face was inches away from his, heavily exhaling a foul stench that made him feel nauseated. Tuskers grimy teeth wryly showed as he bit down on his tongue hard, making a last effort to push back the Husk, only to miserable fail. He could feel the Husks bloody paws dig themselves through the armour and reaching the surface of his skin, ready to shred him apart.

Then, without warning, a loud, menacing growl was heard as Tusker suddenly felt the weight of the Husk fly off him. The next image that appeared before him was the exhilarated Grunt, almost shrouded by the blackened skies of smoke and war. Tusker quickly sighed with relief and happily smiled before turning to his left, where his smile turned back into a frown when he witnessed the same Husk that had almost killed him crawl around on the floor like a poisonous spider waiting to strike. The scene was quickly erased however as the sound of a bullet ejecting it's gun was heard echoing through the air as Tusker watched Grunt unload a shotgun round point blank into the Husks chest, leaving it to exhale it's last screech before officially dying whilst smoke withered from it's chest thanks to the close up bullet wound it has received.

Tusker looked back up at Grunt, who offered no help to get him back to his feet, not that he cared, the Krogan had just saved his life, now was not the time to be picky "Thanks" nodded Tusker as he slowly got to his worn down feet, straggling around for a few seconds before fully regaining his balance.

Grunt tilted his head up, but his pupils were directed downwards, giving him a smug look of displeasure. He didn't look impressed "Don't thank me yet, we still have a war to win" reminded Grunt in a deep tone before turning his back and walking a few steps away from Tusker.

Satisfied, Tusker began swiping to palms along himself, dusting himself off and checking if everything was stable. He then turned, looking over his shoulder at the destruction the Husks managed to create "Just…how many did we lose in that one fight?" whispered Tusker as he started walking forward himself, quickly catching up with Grunt "Look at all the casualties" sighed Tusker.

"Yeah…you guys made one hell of a mess, hehehe" chuckled Grunt. Tusker didn't find the joke quite as funny, but he kept it to himself for good reasons.

What remained of the humans and Turians sloppily proceeded forward, quickly approaching the wall of smoke that had been spawning the army of Husks. Slowly but professionally the soldiers followed Tusker and Grunt with the remaining M35 Mako's that grinded there roaring wheels through the mud and soil of the battlefield. Many unconscious or even lifeless corpses of both humans and Turians were left laying against the broken battlefield behind them to be tended by what was left of the medics. As much as each one of them regretted it, they couldn't help the wounded, not now, they were soldiers experienced in combat, not medicine. The thought withered across the thin atmosphere, becoming a known presence between them all including Grunt as they quickly proceeded forward with awry expectations to what they would find behind the wall off black smoke they were about to tremble through.

Tusker watched as he closed in on the smoke, quickly gulping before opening his lips "We'll be entering the ruins of a city, there should be plenty of cover and hopefully less casualties. We were out of the open back there" informed Tusker.

Grunt heavily exhaled "We need to keep as many off them of Shepard's back until he reaches the Citadel, that means killing as many off them as we can" pleasantly announced Grunt as Tusker gave him a worrying look of concern.

"Great…so we're just the distraction" tutted Tusker, knowing his duties are absolute and yet still questioning them. He rarely did that before, the war must be taking it's affect on him.

"We're not a distraction" quickly interrupted Grunt as he dug his feet into the dirt to force himself from continuing. The Krogan slowly turned, directing his eyesight towards Tusker for a few moments before swerving his eyesight over Tuskers shoulder, scanning the battlefield before him like a robot, marking the amount of soldiers left, checking the conditions of the M35 Mako's until eventually looking back at Tusker with a reliable smirk "We're the support" croaked Grunts voice quietly before turning back around as he continued walking towards the wall of smoke. Tusker could only hesitate for a moment as he took Grunts response into account before noticing a Turian soldier walking past him with a fierce speed, as if eager to continue the battle. That's when it hit Tusker, he shouldn't be complaining or running…he should be rueing his revenge on the Reapers, using all his stored up anger and fear and unleashing it onto what ever fired at him, just like how everyone else felt. Now confident, he followed his fellow soldiers until they were literally a step away from passing the wall of smoke.

No signs of fear, no signs of faltering. Taking in the last inhale of relatively cleansed oxygen, the first few waves of what remained of the soldiers charged through the black wall of smoke, proudly yelling as they morphed into the darkened smoke before coming out to the other side. Grunt was amongst the first few to leap through the surprisingly thin wall of smoke, but what awaited them was the very definition of 'ambush' and 'slaughter'.

Taking the first step out of the smoke and becoming easily visible because of his size, Grunt watched as a tidal wave of bullets came down on them like an artillery strike, barraging with them deadliness that could kill on impact. The immense force of three bullets ricocheted of Grunts solid armour, forcing him to slightly stumble back before he could make his first move. Quickly regaining balance, with the knowledge that at any second he could be dead, Grunt thrusted himself forward, roughly diving onto the uneven ground and skidding across the muddy surface until slamming his back against a stone wall for cover. The slam produced a heavy clanking sound that convinced Grunt that he had either just cracked his armour, or broke his back, and since he wasn't feeling pain, he could only assume, and hope, that it was the armour.

With his back turned to the enemy who had him heavily pinned down, Grunt could only watch the gruesome massacre unfold before him as he watched get soldiers who emerge from the smoke get tore apart bullet by bullet before lifelessly slumping to the ground horrifically. The sight wasn't beautiful, even for him. Very few made it to cover like him, but amongst the few that did, Grunt could see Tusker crouching down behind an overturned car that had already exploded. Tusker was too busy pulling the pin of the grenade and ferociously tossing it over his shoulder to make eye contact with Grunt, leaving a loud bang to ring in both there ears shortly after as rubble fro the explosion poured down like rain over them. Grunt could of swore he saw a limb fly over him along with that rubble, hoping it was the enemies.

What seemed like an eternity, the armoured M35 Mako's finally appeared, blasting through the smoke as it's engines purred with delight. However, entering the ruins of a town meant limited spaces because of all the buildings still standing which means they could only go so far. A nearby commanding human knew exactly this as he yelled out the exclaiming words "Use the Mako's for cover!" as they turned to their sides, making a long line of cover for the next few waves of soldiers to take cover behind whilst the turrets provided supportive covering fire.

With the extra support from both the M35 Mako's and the recovering soldiers, Grunt was finally able to move more flexibly now that the enemies were taking casualties whilst becoming occupied with the growing human force wasn't pinned down. The pure bred Krogan carefully lifted himself, poking him head just above the concrete wall he took cover behind where he peeked at the enemies before him. Cannibals sloppily stood out in the open, some feeding off the deceased for armour whilst others slowly stumbled closer, only to be blasted back by the Mako's guns. Behind them, Marauders firmly took position behind heavy cover as they unloaded their guns onto the humans, quickly retreating to regain their shields every time they were hit. Grunt also noticed the still standing buildings, including the remains of a hotel, were inhabited by Marauders that shot from above, picking off human and Turian soldiers that were exposed one by one. It was a clever tactic, Grunt would admit, but he had an idea of his own.

Grunt quickly dropped back down into cover and turned to Tusker who was busy madly firing his M-8 Avenger "Hey! Pyjak!" howled Grunt at the top of his voice. The familiar insult caught the attention of Tusker immediately as he ducked back down into cover, looking left and right before eventually catching Grunt in his sights "What!" simply responded Tusker with a harsh tone.

Tusker could feel grunts stares burn into him, but he could also see the idea brewing in his eyes with excitement "The buildings are already unstable! Tell those Mako's to fire on the supports and lower parts! Make them collapse!" yelled Grunt, with a devious snicker added at the end of his sentence.

Tusker paused for a moment, not because he couldn't hear the loud yells of Grunt towards him because of the repeated gunfire, but rather because he was calculating Grunts plan and taking it into consideration, noting the advantages and consequences of it. Shooting the buildings would cause them to collapse in an unknown direction, but doing so would risk not only taking out the enemy, but taking out themselves as well. It made Tusker wonder if Grunt had even thought of the consequences if the first place, or if he let excitement and desperation get the better of him.

"Are you crazy!" shouted Tusker with influence "We don't which way those things will fall! We'll risk taking out the entire force!" he yelled with force.

"And if we don't, the enemy will wipe us out anyway, now do it!" snarled Grunt, making it obvious that he didn't like good idea's being questioned "Forget about Tusker for a second, just think, what would Shepard do!" encored the angering Krogan.

Tusker dropped his head down as he began thinking, staring at nothing but the vibrating ground before eventually softly speaking to himself "He…he would do anything to stop the Reapers…at all cost" sighed Tusker with a rather unhappy tone. He didn't like it, but he knew Grunt was right. They were taking heavy casualties even with all the cover and were severely overwhelmed. Conforming his decision, he quickly looked back t Grunt and gave his a respectable nod which caused Grunt to smile happily as he prepared for the show that was about to happen.

Lowering himself onto one knee, in attempt to block out any outside sounds, Tusker sorely pressed his middle and index finger hard against the communicator in his ear as he began to talk "To all Mako's! Target the buildings! Bring em down!" demanded Tusker. Without question or hesitation, Tusker received simple yet comforting responses consisting off "Roger that" or "Yes sir" from the crew of the M35 Mako's.

The robotic buzzing sounds of the remaining Mako's weapon systems slowly tilting itself upwards and positioning themselves to aim directly at two different buildings each side could be heard by all the soldiers taking cover behind them. The next sound however was less calm and more vicious as they began to fire, letting bullets fiercely exit out of the barrel of the gun one after another as they forcefully impacted themselves with the unbalanced buildings, quickly chipping away at them one bullet at a time. Slowly but effectively, each bullet that penetrated the hard concrete added to the damage that was already done and gave it an extra vibe as vibrations were sent through the building, causing it to slowly shift itself downwards as it began to collapse.

Large pieces of rubble that was severely cracked and barely hanging on crumbled as it separated from the slowly falling building, crashing on top of the Cannibals and Marauders that were unaware of the subsiding building that was slowly being prodded at with bullets as it continued to fall. Grunt thrillingly watched from afar as he could see both buildings tilting and preparing to topple over the Reapers, and that was exactly what happened. The last of the buildings supports were shredded away by the barrage of bullets, cutting all connections the building had to the ground and forcing it to give away. The awry, rusty sound of metal bending and bricks snapping plagued the area as the Reaper forces looked up, screeching at what approached them. Then, it happened. The first unstable building ferociously smashed onto the ground and over the Reaper forces, colliding itself with every square inch of the surface the Reapers had regrettably dug themselves into. Almost immediately after, the second building collapsing building crashed into the already fallen first building, creating an immense clanking sound that echoed across the valley and crippling many ears in the process.

A fierce tidal wave of dusty smoke quickly washed over them, completely fogging up the area and shrouding the destruction that just occurred before them. The corrupted smoke tickled Grunts nostrils as he yelled with exhilaration, endlessly cheering throughout the whole event where as the other were overwhelmed with the mad sensation to cough which didn't concern Grunt in the least because he was so thrilled, raising his gun in the air and madly waving it about in victory. The endlessly excited Krogan quickly turned and fast walked over to Tusker who had only just finished his coughing fit. Grunt humorously thrusted his clenched fist forward, roughly punching Tuskers shoulder and knocking him back a few steps as he happily shouted "What a sight!" with pleasure "You humans sure do know how to make a war! Hahaha!" laughed Grunt.

Tusker heavily inhaled and exhaled as he gasped for air, slapping his palm on Grunts shoulder for support. The sonic vibrations of the impact and the lack of oxygen made him and many others feel weary and nauseous. Eventually, his breathing slowed down and he looked up at Grunt, ready to speak "Y-Yeah…we do" sighed Tusker who had a smile on his face.

Grunt looked down at Tusker. Seeing how exhausted he looked, he could do nothing but create serious humour out of the situation "So, where to next Pyjak?" chuckled Grunt.

Tusker took a moment to regain his breathe before replying "As soon as the Destroyer has been taken out, we should be able to rendezvous with Shepard at the Citadel for the final assault" informed Tusker.

The smoke and dust started to quickly clear and settle to the ground, allowing Grunt, Tusker and the rest of the remaining forces to observe the destruction of the debris field that they had just created. The lifeless corpses of Cannibals, Marauders and even the remaining Husks were sloppily scattered across the destruction, some only barely visible from being crushed from under the rubble, others just slumped across the debris, dead. Nothing was moving, which meant nothing was left…for now. They could only assume it was now safe to put their guards down for a minute as they all caught their breaths.

Tusker looked back at Grunt as he looked ready to mention something about the sight he just witnessed, but as his dry, sticky lips opened, something suddenly interrupted him without warning…something loud…something unnerving. A malicious growl suddenly roared through the valley, catching Tusker off guard as he flinched before both he and Grunt turned their heads towards the direction of the sound…the debris field that they had just created. Everything went silent apart from loud thumps that came from the otherwise of the debris field, hiding whatever was producing the sounds. Tusker slowly took a step back as he readied his gun Whilst Grunt fully turned towards the debris field, looking anxious to find out what was coming.

Startlingly, without warning, a thunderous roar burst through the debris field as a large armoured Brute smashed it's way through the piles of rubble, sending pieces of concrete flying through the air and crashing into many of the Mako's as it tore right through them, landing on top of many soldiers at the same time. What little of the remaining forces that were left became fazed and confused, their highest ranking commander was one of the casualties the concrete that the Brute tossed at them had killed, and the destruction of many of their supportive M35 Mako's had them scattered like insects when avoiding any explosions or concrete. The vicious Brute continued it's aggressive assault by ramming into an M35 Mako that was unharmed, leaving a dent in it's side as the vehicle overturned and crushed a group of human and Turian soldiers that had taken cover behind it.

Tusker tutted with annoyance "Damn it! I knew this was too good to be true! Open fire!" ordered Tusker as he lifted his M-8 Avenger high before firing.

What little troops that remained began wildly unloading their bullets upon the hybrid beast, only for their bullets to deflect off it's heavily armoured plating, ricocheting and sometimes even causing the bullets to backfire into another human or Turian and causing friendly fire. The Brute violently snarled at the bothersome soldiers, turning it's attention towards them before charging forward at them and ramming straight into them, either sending them flying or wickedly trampling over their already battered bodies.

"Shit!" shouted Tusker as he watched his allies get torn apart. Only when the worrying sound of his gun repeatedly clicking did Tusker stop his firing. He looked down at his gun as a thermal clipped popped out, followed by a heated steam as he patted around his waist to get the next thermal clip out…his facial expression slowly sunk into a depressing frown as he realise that he was completely out of ammo. He immediately turned to Grunt, in hope of some comforting sight…but instead, he witnessed the hyped Krogan eagerly twist his neck as cracking sounds could be heard before Grunt fully smiled with excitement as the words "Now it's fun" whistled out of his mouth before proceeding forward towards the rampaging Brute, his Claymore shotgun in one hand whilst the other clenched into a tight fist.

As the howling Brute finished off what little troops remained that were near it by clutching them in it's large hands and slamming them into the ground, it could feel the intensity around it grow as the threatening composure Grunt possessed radiated off him and consumed the atmosphere around them, completely shrouding out everything that was around them and leaving the two to ponder about each other.

The Brute snarled an aggressive growl as the fierce creature fully turned itself towards the slowly approaching Grunt who had a menacing look in his eye that sparked the Brutes interest. Instinctively, the Brute dragged it's foot back through the mud to gain a succumb grip of temptation before it let out a devastating screech as it pushed hard against the ground, forcing itself forward towards Grunt as it charged the pure bred Krogan. Grunt, who deeply inhaled the scent of destruction around him before straightening up did almost exactly the same, pushing himself off the ground and loudly yelling and laughing at the same time as he charged towards the approaching Brute with speed, swinging his arms madly as his Claymore failed around wildly.

Within seconds, the two collided, causing a devastating impact as Grunt rammed his shoulder into the metal plating of the Brute, producing a heavy clanking sound upon impact. However, size was not on Grunts side, and with the strength of both a Krogan and Turian running through the Brutes veins, Grunt was severely outmatched. As soon as they collided, a struggled groan divided between the two as the ramming damage took effect on both of them, seeding vibes throughout their bodies…vibes of excitement. The Brute may have been indoctrinated, but it still had Krogan blood flowing around it.

Both began a desperate struggle for dominance and they both fiercely pushed against one another. The Brute however had the advantage as if pushed Grunt back, dragging his feet through the murky mud and it desired to trample the powerful foe. Grunt quickly retaliated, raising his free hand where he viciously slammed it into the Brute's Turian-like head repeatedly, hoping to at least give it a headache. The Brute snarled with annoyance and ended the struggle by swinging the back of it's armoured hand at Grunt, knocking the Krogan back and sending him into a frenzy of stumbling as Grunt struggled to regain his balance.

As it's anger with Grunt continued to grow and it's patience running thin, the Brute didn't hesitate to continue it's assault by pacing itself towards the staggered Grunt, ready to strike the finishing blow, when suddenly, without warning, the familiar voice of Tusker shouting "Hey! Over here you overgrown freak!" violently spat out of Tuskers mouth as he threw large boulders of rubble that were the size of his hand at the brute, which eventually ended up hitting the Brute's already wounded head and angering it further.

The Brute hissed and turned towards Tusker who was closer than he would like to be to such a monstrous creature. Now that he had it's attention, he was regretting ever making the actions he just did as Tusker slowly backed away with his palms carefully in midair, trying not to provoke the brute further, which failed, to his dire disappointment. The Brute let out an ear blistering growl as it leaped forward, swinging it's fingers around Tusker and tightly closing them to get a secure grasp on Tusker who sorely felt the squeezing of the brute take effect. He harshly cried out, pleasing the Brute, but catching the attention of Grunt which the Brute had presumably forgotten.

Just now regaining his composure, the agonizing yells of pain coming from Tusker immediately caught Grunts attention. The pure bed Krogan turned to the direction of the yelling and witnessed the Brute slowly crushing Tusker with it's bare hands which angered Grunt, partly because the Brute had just tossed him aside and forgotten about him. Back on his feet, Grunt didn't hesitate to get back into the action as he began charging again, yelling out a battle cry "I am Krogan!" as he quickly approached the brute with amazing speeds.

Before the Brute could even turn, which was Grunts exact intentions, to catch it off guard, he rammed into the side of the Brute, sending it toppling over onto it's back where it became a defenceless turtle unable to get back onto it's feet. It did however still have Tusker clutched in it's tightening hands, but Grunt was about to end that tightening. The pure bred Krogan quickly circled the Brute before slamming his boot on it's shoulder pad to keep it still. He then happily lifted his heavy Claymore and gently pressed the tip of the barrel against the Brutes head. Grunt blinked twice, smiled and placed his finger over the trigger, slowly caressing it for a moment before forcefully pulling it back.

The bullet ejected from the gun barrel, producing a loud bang to echoed throughout the wasteland of corpses and destruction as the powerful shotgun bullet easily penetrated the Turian skull of the Brute, imploding throughout it's inside's and causing the head of the brute to shatter and explode, splattering Grunts armour with brain matter and blood as it sloppily slid down the white surface. Grunt roughly shoved his foot against the Brute's shoulder pad, rolling it over, closely examining it and double checking to see if it was dead. It was.

Satisfied, Grunt turned his attention to Tusker who was heavily gasping for air whilst still clutched in the Brutes secure grip. Both their eyes eventually met and Tusker was the first to speak after recovering "G-Good work…Now g-get this thing off me" sighed Tusker.

Grunt pulled a smile at his response as he holstered his Claymore, swinging it over his back and attaching it to the mechanism firmly attached to his armour. He then gently stepped forward before crouching down, preparing to pry open the Brutes long claws that wrapped themselves around Tusker. Whilst doing so, the humming sounds of a Kodiak drop shuttle racing over them caught Grunt's attention as he looked up, following the trail of thwarting that the shuttle left behind until something caught his eye…something that even he couldn't laugh at.

From afar, a Reaper caught sight of the Kodiak drop shuttle as it slowly turned itself towards the direction that the Kodiak, Grunt and Tusker was in. Grunt could only frown with anger and watch along with Tusker as the Reaper slowly began to charge up it's weapon, producing a red, circular light to blaze with fury as it grew in power and size, sparking brightly with threatening intentions. Grunt yelled with annoyance as he turned back to Tusker, quickly digging his fingers into the Brutes armoured hand as he attempted to rip it's hand open to free Tusker whilst anxiously shouting "We have to get out of here!" to both himself and Tusker with eagerness.

Grunt began pulling hard, loudly heaving with effort as he tried his best to save the only other human he had actually gotten along with in his small lifespan, but, to his demise, the Brute's armoured claw was heavy and wedged between the ground, making it almost impossible to pry open the claws without blowing it open, and that wasn't going to happen since Tusker was the hostage being held in it's grasp.

The Reapers illuminate beam was almost fully charged now and both Grunt and Tusker knew it thanks to the growing buzzing sound that was emerging from the reaper itself. The louder it got, the more charged the weapon was. Then…the buzzing stopped. The beam was ready. Without warning, a ferocious blast of energy shot through the air as the loud thwarting of it alerted Grunt who began to panic. The beam of dangerous energy easily engulfed the Kodiak drop shuttle, disintegrating it upon impact as the vicious beam continued to travel through the air before savagely slamming into the ground, where it continued it's journey towards Grunt, Tusker and any remaining surviving forces that were left as if tore through the solid ground with ease and approaching them with prejudice.

Grunts eyes flickered as he watched the quickly approaching beam of light before the sound of Tuskers voice interrupted him "Just go!" he yelled with what little oxygen he had left whilst slapping him palm over Grunts shoulder in an attempt to shove him "I've done my part…" sorrowfully whispered Tusker.

Grunt growled, he hated being ordered around, and he hated failing. The pure bred Krogan turned back towards the beam, observing how quickly it was approaching and how much time he had left before turning back to Tusker, leering at him with regret until giving him a respectable nod of acceptance which Tusker gladly accepted with a sorrowed smile.

At first, Grunt was hesitate to leave Tusker. It's not that Grunt found it hard to turn away because Tusker was some sort of friend, hell, he barely knew the guy, but considering the fact that he could see no other soldier standing or even breathing around them, Grunt could assume that they were the only two durable soldiers left to fight. He didn't want to end up rendezvousing with Shepard at the Citadel being the last man standing, or rather last Krogan standing for the group he had entered with. Oh, the irony, just a short while ago Grunt was giving an explanation to why Tusker wasn't durable in a fight, and yet just then the thoughts of them being the last durable soldiers of the group had crossed his mind. It made him laugh in his mind. Grunt looked back at Tusker one last time as he could see watery fluids fill up the corner off his eyes. Grunt didn't know what that was, nor did he know the feeling, but he didn't have time to question it as the beam of power zoomed in dangerously close. No last words, just a nod, Grunt hastily turned and madly dashed away from Tusker, never looking back, leaving him behind. Grunt wasn't making the sacrifice this time back when he was with Shepard, Tusker was.

Faster and faster he ran, compellingly being encouraged by the increasing buzzing sound behind him to keep going as he could hear the Reapers beam close in on the area. The beam was thick and engulfed a fair portion of the Earth, Grunt knew this because he had spent so much time admiring them back when he was still waiting…it was fair to say now that he was no longer admiring them, but rather loathing them. Then, after what felt like an eternity, the expected hit happened. Grunt viciously dived for safety as he could feel the impact of the beam overwhelm any living organism that was behind him, including Tusker as the beam ripped through the ground like tissue paper and literally melted or disintegrated all that was in it's path. In mid air, Grunt could feel the back of his armour start to singe whilst smoke withered from it from the close encountering heat wave of the beam, making Grunt himself sweat a few drops before he landed face first in the muddy surface as he skidded across it, just barely avoiding the blast radius. The beam continued forward for a few more moments, engulfing all corpses and M35 Mako's and making it look like an atomic bomb had just him the area as it left trenches and holes all across the battlefield before finally dispersing, leaving nothing but vibrations to travel around the location and the stinging smell of burn flesh to poison people's minds when they wonder what happened here. There was one who knew though…and his name was Grunt.

Grunt groaned with annoyance as the murky feeling of mud splattered against his face was easily detectable…first blood, now mud, today just wasn't his day. The pure bred Krogan slowly rose to his feet, pausing for a few seconds to realise what just happened before he finally turned and witnessed what was left of the battlefield. Smoke and flames scoured the ground, leaving no evidence of a battle and assuring no signs of life. Grunt sighed with disappointment as he slowly perched open his lips as he began to talk "You did good Pyjack…you did good…Tusker" nodded Grunt with a serious tone in his voice. Grunt looked down as he experienced a few moments of sorrow before being interrupted by the thoughts of meeting up with Shepard which got him hyped up again as he turned the opposite direction "I'm coming Shepard…don't enter that thing without me" whispered Grunt to himself as he patted himself off before continuing forward, leaving behind any bad memories and hoping that the delay hadn't caused him to be late.


End file.
